Who is the object of Adonai’s love?
John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world …”
Adonai loves “the world”. Sometimes we refer to our present evil social system as “the world” but that is not what is referred to here.
Adonai loves “the world” in terms of all things and everyone whom He created; not any one people or group of people.
Adonai “so” loves the world. The word “so” emphasizes Adonai’s supreme love even for evil, sinful people. This shows the intensity and greatness of His love. No one is so evil as to have Adonai’s love withdrawn.
The evidence that Adonai’s love in infinitely deep and poured out on every single person; “He gave His only begotten Son.”
Romans 5: 8
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
What does the love which comes from Adonai tells us about His character?
1 John 4: 8.
“God is love.”
We have seen Adonai’s love is for all mankind. His love is a fundamental aspect of His character. Everything He does is rooted in love.
However, Adonai has other fundamental characteristics which we must acknowledge: – His righteousness, His faithfulness, His consistency, His omniscience, His omnipresence, His infinite existence and His eternal being.
How does Adonai’s love for all mankind fit in with the Election of the saved?
2 Timothy 1: 9.
“(Adonai) has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began …”
Adonai’s love is free, spontaneous, unprompted and uninfluenced. Nothing we can do will make Him love us more and nothing we do will make Him love us less.
No-one is worthy of salvation. All have “sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. It is impossible for any person to earn their way to heaven. Salvation is by grace through faith, according to Adonai’s “own purpose” i.e., His sovereign plan.
Adonai wants communion in heaven with people who have devoted themselves to respond to His love with love for Him and obedience to His word. He could never have rebellious, sinful people running about heaven. His holiness and righteousness mean that He can have no truck with sin.
Adonai’s solution is to call out an elect to salvation. This, of course, does not that mean He wants people to perish.
1 Timothy 2: 4
“(God our Saviour) who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.”
He loves those who are perishing; they have just not responded to His love. Man has no excuse for not knowing about Adonai. He has revealed Himself in men’s conscience and in the physical world.
“Grace” (2 Timothy 1: 9) is Adonai’s unearned favour. The Lord called us and saved us “in Christ Jesus before time began.” The destiny of Adonai’s chosen was determined and sealed from eternity past. This wonderful salvation and calling are “not according to our works” i.e., not earned or deserved. It is from this gracious act of love from Adonai, that our love for Him grows.
Adonai’s righteous consistency determines that He cannot proffer salvation to those who do not respond to His love.
So, Adonai’s love is seen in the matter of Election. Salvation is according to Adonai’s plan “in Christ Jesus.” His wonderful plan of salvation is depended on the sacrifice of our precious Lord.
Adonai decided to save through the substitutionary work of the Lord Yeshua. He decided to save guilty sinners (deserving of death). He decided to offer eternal life to as many as would accept the Lord Yeshua as Saviour.
The method by which we would be saved was planned, not only before we were born but “before time began.”
If Adonai loves everyone and the salvation of the elect is secure, how should believers respond?
I’m pretty sure we should not be sitting back, patting ourselves on the back and congratulating ourselves. If we were the kind of people to do that, I don’t think we would have been chosen in the first place!
We must surely respond with gratitude, humility and joy.
Psalm 63: 3.
“Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.”
That the self-existing One who created and sustains us, clearly loves us, that profound thought should enthrall our whole being.
1 John 4: 19.
“We love Him because He first loved us.”
Adonai does not love us because we love Him. He could have given up on mankind with Adam and Eve. He could have lost patience with Israel on any number of occasions. But this is not in His character: He is faithful and covenant-keeping.
The Commandments require a person to love Adonai and his neighbour, but the law could not produce this love. But with His Son coming to die for us, such wonderful evidence of His love draws out hearts to Him in return.
1 John 4: 11.
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
That Adonai first loved us, empowers us to love Him in return and to love one another. We want to be like the Lord Yeshua, loving those He loved. Love is at the heart of our faith and should empower action. Anyone in whom Adonai dwells reflects His character. To claim to know Adonai while failing to love others is to make a false claim.
Colossians 3: 12 – 17.
“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts …”
For unregenerated man this is mission impossible!
The new man, in the Lord Yeshua, has the image of the Lord himself; just as the old self bears the image of his fallen nature. The old man is under his old master, Satan (not that he knows it). The new man now has the Spirit of Adonai living within.
These verses from Colossians sum up how a believer should live. We should commit everything we do or say to the Lord Yeshua and continually thank Adonai for His lovingkindness and blessings.
Does the love which comes from Adonai include “tough love” when we get out of line?
Most certainly!
Hebrews 12: 7.
“If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son does not is there whom a father does not chasten?
Proverbs 3: 11 and 12.
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest HIs correction; for whom the Lord loved He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.”
Divine discipline demonstrates divine love. If He does not discipline you, you are not His. Adonai’s disciplining is done with our welfare in mind.
Though no child likes discipline on the surface, it does provide a sense of security. With every trial, Adonai is fashioning us into holy people, set apart for His good purpose.
Human disciplining may be flawed, but that of Adonai is perfect and always for the good of His children.
We may even experience training through persecution; but it is under His control and always for our profit; “that we may be partakers of His holiness.”
Are Adonai’s Commandment just a device to keep us in line?
Certainly not!
John 15: 9 and 10.
“As the Father loved Me, I also have love you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
The commandments are not about taking the fun out of life!
The Commandments are a fine expression of Adonai’s love for us. They were given to Moses and Israel in the desert when Adonai had already expressed His love for them by leading them out of captivity in Egypt. In the Commandments He wanted to provide them with a guide to wise and happy living. He expressed His love by providing parameters to live by.
Psalm 1: 2.
“(Blessed is the man whose “delight is in the law of the Lord.”
Let’s look briefly at the Commandments.
First Commandment. “No other god”. If you want the blessings of Adonai, you cannot mix and march with other gods including the idols of wealth, power and comfort sought after in our time.
Second Commandment: no images of Adonai. We focus on and worship Adonai through listening not seeing. Adonai created us to be in a relationship with Him, not with some object we feel may represent Him.
Third Commandment: respect the name of Adonai. We should only speak His name with heartfelt sincerity and reverence. Using His name frivolously drives reverence from our hearts. We should not use His name as an attempt to manipulate Him. We cannot respect His law if we devalue His name.
Fourth Commandment: a day of rest. In His affection for us, Adonai recognized our need for regular rest from labour and time to reflect on His love for us.
Fifth Commandment: the importance of family life. If we take care of our elderly parents, our children in their turn will do the same. The Commandment reflects Adonai’s tender care for people when they reach a vulnerable place in life.
Sixth Commandment: no to murder. Only Adonai creates life and only Adonai should bring a life to its end. Therefore abortion, suicide and euthanasia come under this Commandment. All people are created in the image of Adonai. To deliberately take a person’s life, other than in circumstances permitted by scripture, is to hold Adonai in contempt and risk the cohesion of society.
Seventh Commandment: sexual morality. Marriage is a gift to mankind from Adonai. A long and faithful marriage brings great peace, delight and stability. Adultery destroys people, their relationships with one another and their fellowship with Adonai.
Eighth Commandment: no theft. Adonai is the true owner of everything. We are stewards of what He has entrusted to us. Stealing shows contempt for Adonai and for other people. Working for a living, and giving to others in need, shows love and faith in Adonai’s love and provision.
Ninth Commandment: false witness. When a person tells a lie, he steals the honour and trust of the person he lies to. Trust is the currency in Adonai’s kingdom. Satan is the master of lies. Because Adonai loves us, he does not want us to be embarrassed by being found out in a lie.
Tenth Commandment: no greed or envy. These arise form a lack of contentment with what Adonai has given us. Theft is about what is in the heart. Coveting in lust for material possessions. The Lord Yeshua came to give us abundant life. What more do we need?
The Commandments, therefore, are all about hazard avoidance in life. The laws of Adonai reveal His love for us.
Does Adonai pour out HIs love feely on His elect?
Yes, certainly!
John 3: 16.
“… that whoever believes in Him (the Lord Yeshua) shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
The love and work of the Lord Yeshua on the cross was so great and of such value that all sinners everywhere could be saved, if they would accept Him.
Adonai’s love for believers is unbreakable.
Romans 8: 35.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
The answer is a resounding “no”!
These trials and difficulties will not only fail to separate us from the love Messiah, but they also make us “more than conquerors” by forcing us to depend on Adonai’s love. If Adonai, the non-created One is for us, nothing can separate us from His love.
The love and power of the Lord Yeshua brings sweetness out of bitterness, triumph out of tragedy and blessing out of heartbreak.
Romans 5: 5.
“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
The Holy Spirit is Adonai’s love gift to us. The moment we believe, we receive Him and He floods our hearts with expressions of Adonai’s love for us. A love which is eternal and shall see us safely to Heaven – what a comfort!
Therefore our “hope” of future glory with Adonai will not “disappoint” by being unfulfilled.
Adonai loves believers in the Lord Yeshua as He loves His own Son. His love for believers does not mean that He does not love unbelievers, but through our Lord we became His children are loved as a member of the family.
The blessings for believers from Adonai are outlined in Psalm 119. These are: – Peace, Joy, Understanding, Strength, Comfort in Suffering, A Thoughtful Heart, Reverence for Adonai, Absence of Shame, A Worshipful Heart, a Clean Life and Personal Revival.
Where can we see the perfect expression of Adonai’s Love?
In the Lord Yeshua, of course!
We have already seen the power of His loving work on the cross and the impossibility of anything separating us from His love. He is the model of unchanging, everlasting love. Thomas doubted Him. Peter denied Him. Two wanted to put themselves forward for an exalted position with Him. Three fell asleep at His darkest hour. At His trial and execution, all abandoned Him.
Yet, even facing the most awful execution, He did not reject them. He called them His friends and lovingly corrected their faults and errors. He even prayed for His tormentors. Thus, He demonstrated His eternal love.
John 17: 24.
“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me …”
Every time a believer dies that prayer is answered. Even when we believers fail, He remains faithful. For the Lord Yeshua to abandon us would be completely contrary to His loving, faithful nature.
John 10: 28.
“And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”